Faceless Crowd
by fourandtwenty
Summary: In the aftermath of War, Harry runs into an old enemy at the funeral of a professor everyone's quite familiar with. Harry wants to see the world, and Draco's more than willing to show him. However, is Harry ready to face the depths of reality, with only h


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Faceless Crowd****  
****Rated: PG [for the first chapter]****  
****Pairings: None at the moment, besides old flames and lost loved ones.  
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****Author's Note:**  
Hey all you guys... New story. Once again, a Harry story, but this one's gonna be a -hopefully- fairly long one. The rating will definitely go up drastically, so don't get too attached if you're not allowed to read anything higher than PG-13. Reviews are always loved, cheerished, and worshiped - feel free to IM me on AOL Instant Messanger as well, ExemplarPiaculum's my main screen name for now. AngelBornInHe11, if that doens't work. I promise I don't bite, and I love talking to you guys! :o)  
  
Aimée  
  
  
  
  
  
It was a Tuesday morning when I saw him for the first time in nearly ten years; After Hogwarts, we had both gone our separate ways, as we had never been friends - Enemies, yes, but never friends. The death of a teacher had brought us together, and even though I had loathed the man, I always held a strange respect for his being. It was impossible to be around him and to not at the very least acknowledge his presence.  
  
Harry Potter had always been the famous one, but you're not here to listen about my simplistic woes as a child. I loathed him for being better than I could ever be; he had the friends, the fame, the admiration of the Wizarding world – I had nothing but a father whose main purpose in life was to destroy Harry. He was my father's obsession, his one need in life; I was produced for an heir to the man who was going to succeed the Dark Master, something I had never been truly proud of.  
  
The graveyard was bland and gray, rain drizzling out of the sky, hitting the black umbrellas of the many witches and wizards gathered around our old professor's grave. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, standing between Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, both Professors at Hogwarts. They were the only people I could immediately recognize in the group, although I knew I was surrounded by old friends, enemies, and people I had never taken notice of before. Taking in a deep breath, I swallowed my pride and made my way over towards the small group as inconspicuous as possible.   
  
As I approached the man, a gust of wind cut through the crowd, making myself and everyone around me shiver. He turned around briefly, catching my eye as he did so. Harry made a small noise before asking Hermione to hold his umbrella, and he then made his way over to me.   
  
His black hair was still as messy as I remembered it, his green eyes no longer hiding behind those hideous round glasses of his. I could only assume he was wearing contacts, for I could see his green eyes as clearly as anyone else's gathered around us that morning.  
  
As similar as his hair and eyes looked, his skin held a soft glow, one I had never thought he could possess. He gave me a simple smile, nodding towards me with the formalities of businessmen, and then stuck out his right hand for me to shake. I eyed it for a moment, and then finally gave in, shaking my old enemy's hand firmly as I could muster.  
  
"Harry Potter," I nodded, letting go of his warm hand. "What brings you here?"  
  
"Hermione," he nodded off towards the short brunette. "She needed the company; Neville originally wasn't planning to come."  
  
"I should think not," I shook my head, a smirk appearing across Harry's lips. "Seeing how Professor Snape treated Neville throughout his years at Hogwarts, I wouldn't have expected him to. In fact, I believe if it wasn't for all this mud, I would faint with surprise."  
  
Harry tilted his head slightly to the side, "We all make mistakes, Draco. Some bigger than others – Professor Snape eventually apologized and accepted Neville as a member of Hogwarts staff. You know that as well as I do."  
  
I nodded, agreeing. "Yes, of course. I didn't come here to fight, Potter, just to say my goodbyes. Isn't that why we're all here?"  
  
Harry turned back towards the casket held above the deep grave, and then blinked a few times.   
  
"Closure." He murmured, barely audible enough for me to hear. "I wanted to make sure he was all right."  
  
"He's dead, Harry." I said quietly, "If there is an afterlife, he deserves a hero's place in heaven."  
  
"Don't we all?" Harry sighed deeply, leaning back on his heel and crossing his arms. "We've all been through enough in the past fifteen years; every last one of us deserves our own little corner of heaven just for living through it."  
  
"Yes," I spoke quietly, afraid of anyone else overhearing our conversation. "I suppose we do – all except the people who caused the war."  
  
"You're not one of them, Draco." His tone matched my own only in volume, as his voice was much gentler than my previous statement had been. "Your father didn't succeed in sculpting you into who he wanted you do be. It's over now, you can forgive yourself. You have to eventually."  
  
My eyes snapped up from their resting point on the tombstone, meeting Harry's own eyes. "You know nothing about what I went through, don't you dare pretend you do."  
  
"I know I don't, and I promise you I won't pretend I do." Harry said, taking a step closer. "This war produced an entire new generation of heroes. You and I are just two of them, along with thousands of others. You, out of all of us, deserve the most credit; you stood up to the most influential of the dark forces and survived, your person still remaining in tact. Out of all the great accomplishments of this war, Draco, that deserves to be recognized the most."   
  
I shook my head, "I don't need your sympathy, Potter. I have a life now, and as much as this may surprise you, I rather enjoy it."  
  
"Just trying to be of some service." Harry looked up at me, seven years of hatred and war forgotten in that single moment. Some people say if two certain people hadn't been best friends, they would have been the worst of enemies. The exact opposite applied to Harry and I; if he had accepted my friendship the second day we had met, I had a suspicion we wouldn't be seeing each other for the first time in ten years that Tuesday.   
  
I allowed the silence between us to hold for only a few moments before speaking, making sure my throat was clear beforehand. I didn't have a family left, but I sure as hell wasn't about to let Harry Potter see how I felt.  
  
"He was a great man." My voice was stiff and somber as I held my head high, starring straight at the tombstone. "Shame he died the way he did."  
  
"There was no shame in the way he died." Harry said quietly, his monotonous voice becoming even more so at that moment, if it was at all possible.  
  
"He was captured in his final hour," I replied, steadying my voice. "To a Death Eater, past or present, to allow the enemy to capture you is a mortal and deadly sin."  
  
"He's paid his debts," Harry insisted once more. "He paid with his life – what better a price for committing a mortal, as you call it, sin?"  
  
"You wouldn't understand, Potter." I sneered, feeling the anger I felt for him boil up inside of me. "You've been protected and sheltered your entire life; you don't know what it feels like to live in the real world. Your grasp of reality isn't good enough for you to see that life isn't a game. If you don't know the rules, there's certainly no chance you can play."  
  
"So teach me." Harry replied, his green eyes fixed upon my own. "I'm perfectly aware of the fact none of us are immortal – save Headmaster Dumbledore."  
  
I returned his stare, challenging him the best I could. "You're not ready, Potter. You're a hero's hero, and for that, you're going to be protected by complete strangers your entire life. You've experienced death first hand, yes, but in this day and age, haven't we all? What makes you think you're ready to learn what life's all about?"  
  
Harry turned around for a moment, starring at Hermione and Neville. For a moment, I thought he was going to go back to them, but he then turned around and smiled.  
  
"You see those two over there?" he asked, nodding his head in their direction. "They're the only people I have left in this world. Hermione lost a husband on Friday, Neville lost a coworker, and I lost one of the people I thought would never die. It was a slap in the face, Hermione telling me he was dead; he did so much good and got so little credit for it, why now? Why him, of all the people in this world? I don't want to be surprised any longer; I want to know why all of these things happen."  
  
I starred at him for a moment, blinking in a bemused manner. "He married Hermione?"  
  
Harry shot me a confused, disbelieving look. "You didn't know? I could have sworn you were present at the wedding."  
  
"I haven't been in contact with anyone in the Wizarding world since my father died," I answered patiently. "If the wedding happened in the past eight years, I can guarantee you I didn't even receive an invitation."  
  
"It doesn't matter any longer," he sighed. "He's gone, she's left with nothing but Hogwarts, and I'm too bloody scared to stay in one place for too long."  
  
I cocked my head slightly, interested in hearing his story. "And why is that?"  
  
He shrugged, refusing to meet my eyes. "I don't want to be held down or attached to one certain thing, I suppose."  
  
My confused look melted into a small smile as an idea formed in my head. I looked around the graveyard, looking back the faceless crowd and into the depths of the field. I observed the different size, shape, and coloured headstones for a minute before turning back to Harry.  
  
"So you want to see the world?" I asked, "You want to know what the real world's like."  
  
He nodded, his lips not moving to form words. I raised my eyebrow slightly at this passive, non-existent gesture, uncrossing my arms and wiping my face of all expressions.  
  
"Then please, allow me to show you what the real world's like."  
  
  
_Severus Snape_  
  
_January 24th, 1960 – April 23rd, 2008_  
  
_ He Was A Hero's Hero – God Bless His Soul._  
  



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